Mark Epstein


Mark Epstein is an American author and psychotherapist who integrates Buddha's teachings with Sigmund Freud's approaches to trauma. He often writes about the interface of Buddhism and psychotherapy.

Personal life

Epstein said he has experienced transgenerational trauma. He is married to the artist Arlene Shechet and has two children.

Career

Epstein is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Medical School. After completing his psychiatry residency at what is now New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, he entered the private practice of psychiatry in New York City. He is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at New York University School of Medicine. He was interviewed for segments of the PBS documentary The Buddha.

Meditation practitioner and author

Epstein went to a Buddhist summer camp in Boulder, Colorado, where he met his first Buddhist teachers, Joseph Goldstein and Jack Kornfield. In his early 20s, he traveled to Ajahn Chah's forest Buddhist monastery near Bangkok, Thailand, together with these teachers as well as with Richard Alpert. He has practiced insight meditation since 1974.
He is a contributing editor to the and his books include "Thoughts Without a Thinker" and "Going to Pieces without Falling Apart". Both books deal with the problematic and counter-intuitive Eastern teachings of non-self.

Quotes

Works